GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — FOX 17 is staying in contact with Consumers Energy amid Wednesday’s winter storm hitting West Michigan.
Josh Paciorek, a spokesperson for Consumers Energy, told FOX 17 the utility company prepared for Wednesday evening well in advance.
“This was the part of the day that we’d been preparing for all week. It’s been all hands on deck getting ready for this storm,” Paciorek added. “Between the ice [Wednesday] evening then the potential for wind gusts [Thursday], we’re going to be keeping a close eye on this weather as our crews sort of ready and waiting to go to start restoration efforts if folks are losing power.”
Additionally, Consumers pre-staged crews in areas across the state where we expect to be hit the hardest, including Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.
“Part of it is work we do months and even, you know, years in advance, and a lot of that has to do with maintenance and paying attention to areas where we know we maybe have trees that are starting to get a little bit older or there’s a weakness in the branches, so we have a whole forestry department that’s looking out for those kinds of things. We do upgrades and maintenance on poles and things like that, and all of that prep work that we’re doing throughout the year helps us be a little bit more ready for events like this,” Tracy Wimmer, a spokesperson for Consumers Energy, explained to FOX 17. “Then, of course, we’ve got our whole Incident Command team who’s been mobilizing over the last several days as we watch the storm come in.”
READ MORE: Consumers Energy prepares for messy winter storm
Ice and wind are the two big things Consumers crews look for when it comes to power outages during a winter storm.
“One of the challenges with ice is…it creates these click roadways, these icy roadways and so our crews have to be more careful, they have to drive a little bit slower when they are going out to work on restoration efforts,” Paciorek explained.
If you see a downed wire, first call 911 then call Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050.
“We expect that those numbers are going to continue to climb. We’re seeing more downed wires across the southern part of the state as well, and so we’re monitoring those, the outage map is being updated regularly online and…we’ve got our crews ready and, as soon as it is safe for them to do so, we will go out and we will start working on getting things back online,” Wimmer said.
To view the Consumers Energy outage map, report an outage or check your outage status, click here.
